Split Patterns vs. Full Patterns

[Jman423]

Why do some people recommend full (lighthead) patterns and others prefer split (lighthead) patterns?

Discuss!

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[WigWag75]

Since I'm still a noob I'm taking a risk on responding, be gentle!


Being on here for awhile I've noticed more dislike towards spilt patterns then any other. I've personally never noticed this until I came upon this site.


That being said, I don't mind split color heads though I believe interweaved light heads (Sho-Me brand is all that comes to mind at the moment) don't do as much. Only having say 4-6 LEDs lit up spaced apart is worse than having 3-6 LEDs grouped together on one side then the other.


Though EMS in a town just a few miles from me have an new ambulance

 

[dmathieu]

Full = bigger footprint = seen from longer distance

 

[WigWag75]

Forgive my incomplete post. Technical difficulties.


The ambulance has all its lighting set to pinwheel, including grille and lower lights. It makes for a nice purple blob.

 

[JPolston]

Ready depends on exact light we are talking about. We have Whelen 600s on our rescue. All but one(installer did split fail on one that I'm going to figure out how to adjust myself) have a messed up top/bottom flash pattern. The pattern drives me insane on any application. That kind of light, it needs to be a full pattern. Very efficient and would be a much better footprint if we used a full pattern alternating on the sides.

T6 lightheads? I don't mind split color. Depending on the light, they can be very bright and efficient per application.

HAWs are obviously brighter if they are solid colors. However, say you need a little extra splash of color to break up your solid color to any side(we'll use needing a bit of amber to the rear), I think using HAW with your warning color split with amber is the way to go. Some people beg to differ, and I can see where they're coming from, but this is the way I would break it up a bit.

Lightbars?(I'm throwing this in) For my Venom I run an in/out pattern that moves traffic very well. There's a pattern on some exterior lightbars that flash from the center outwards a couple times, then outer to in a couple times and keeps alternating. It flashes so quickly it efficiently uses the entire bar without staying solid.

Again, it depends on the lighthead, the application, and if there is a SMART pattern selected. 

 

[WigWag75]

In that same town, the FD has a brush truck with a single Whelen 500 series linear led lighthead split R/B in the middle of the grille. Not exactly noticeable.

 

[JPolston]

In that same town, the FD has a brush truck with a single Whelen 500 series linear led lighthead split R/B in the middle of the grille. Not exactly noticeable.

Like a redneck with a single tooth in the center... Very awkward.

 

[WigWag75]

Here's the pinwheel/split fail offender from a tanker truck fire today. We provided mutual aid for them. I'll post more from this on the action shots forum later.

 

[894]

Pinwheels and splitting heads when viewed from a distance provide absolutely NO implication of a flashing light when viewed at a distance. They merely are a dimmer, steady-burning light source as only 1/4 to 1/2 of the lighthead is illuminated at any one time. From a distance these heads cannot be distinguished as a flashing light due to their proximity. On your workbench or standing in front of whatever unit they're affixed to, they look cool but again, are completely useless at distance. To grasp the full use of and utilize the full intensity of any LED lighthead, it must be fully illuminated. Flash it or steady-burn it but use it fully. Now, that being said, that only applies to single-color heads.

Split-color heads are a different story as you would be conveying two different meanings or displaying two different colors from the same location. In that instance, then, and only then, split them according to their respective colors, again, displaying two different colors from the same location. To run both colors together on that lighthead is ludicrous. Neither color gets portrayed properly and the reasoning for the two colors gets lost. Back in the day, when using a split red/white or blue/white head, one could intensify your light output with a half-color filter to get some attention without blinding your driver in adverse-weather conditions and the use of a full-white head could be too much, especially w/ a strobe. Obviously, the white would overpower the other color but a fraction of that color would still be displayed, even though it would hardly be detectable to the naked eye. Some split-color applications were great for the front corners when viewed at "critical angles" (45 deg. to the front would display all clear for traffic-clearing and red to the rear for side/rear warning. Again, this application only when there was one light source for the split -color head, not two.  

My two cents. 

 

[chiefolson]

This is a very interesting thread and I enjoy reading comments from others that mirror what I have concluded in regards to splitting light heads.  On the vehicles in my fleets for the past 20 years or so, we have tried a variety of different configurations, colors, flash patterns, etc. and it all comes down to the reason that we install warning lighting on vehicles.  We need to properly identify ourselves to other motorists so that they recognize what they are seeing, what the lights are requesting, and to get the proper response from that driver.  This is true if we are seeking the right of way to move through traffic or identifying ourselves as a stationary hazard in or alongside a roadway to which they should provide clear and safe passage.

Installing light heads in such a manner that make that identification difficult or impossible makes no sense and likely borders on negligence. 

I could not agree with the comments of 894 in regards to the pinwheel patterns.  They are amusing up close and confusing at a distance.  I can't understand the intent of taking what are usually high quality well engineered light heads and only illuminating 25 to 50% of them at a time. 

Jon

 

[AJ3814]

Pinwheels (in solid color) are just stupid. Some decision maker somewhere likes shiny s**t. Now.... when you bring in the idea of *contrasting* colors, it makes total sense to have split flash.

I would agree very little that a solid color with more modules would create a bigger footprint, thereby being seen from a farther distance. A 6 module solid color light wouldn't be seen any faster than a 6 head split/dual colored alternating light. The 6 head in one color is going to have "off time"..... the 6 head with 3 in each color is going to have no "off time" and will not only always "be on" but will have 2 different colors.

Pinwheel style flashing would be very effective if you mixed 2 contrasting colors in each light.

 

[Skippy]

...<snipped>The 6 head in one color is going to have "off time"..... the 6 head with 3 in each color is going to have no "off time" and will not only always "be on" but will have 2 different colors.

Pinwheel style flashing would be very effective if you mixed 2 contrasting colors in each light.

I think off time helps the light be eye-catching and should play into the patterns.

Feniex cannons have a pattern that flips the colors on the lighthead. It doesn't seem as visible as the one that flashes one color, off, then flashes the other color, off repeat.

 

[AJ3814]

Heh.... for my eyes it's the opposite. The dual color flash catches my attention earlier than a single color flashing on/off. Weird.

 

[Storm4200]

Heh.... for my eyes it's the opposite. The dual color flash catches my attention earlier than a single color flashing on/off. Weird.

Back up 500' and say that.

 

[AJ3814]

I have. One color flashing on and off doesn't get my attention as fast as dual colors flashing.

 

[Chris W]

I have. One color flashing on and off doesn't get my attention as fast as dual colors flashing.

But what about Color 1, off, Color 2, Off instead of just Color 1, Color 2.   The latter is not nearly as attention getting to me.

 

[AJ3814]

Hmmm.... interesting. Haven't had the chance to see that yet. It does seem like an interesting concept so long as the "off time" isn't too much. That's why I am a huge fan of rotators at a minimum of 120 rpm. I've done a lot of "Google-foo" and the studies say that anything faster than about 195 rpm is too fast for the human eye to "track", which coincidentally is "me". The old standard of 90 rpm is a little too slow (albeit still effective in the right configuration), and some of the "new(er)" fast rotators are 200+ rpm (which is too fast, just as the LED fast flash). Strobes have been shown to a good extent to affect the optic nerve in the human eye and additionally create sheer chaos in fog/limited visibility. With rotators, even though while in the "off" position of pointing the light elsewhere, the light can still be seen traversing other objects and it's movement can still be "tracked" by the human eye like shining a flashlight on an object while you are behind the light. I have run a rotator bar on my POV for the last 15 years and believe it or not, I still have less trouble clearing traffic than any LED or strobe bar I have ever had on any of my patrol vehicles. With the new LED's "I" think that the effectiveness comes from either brightness (which can easily be too bright) or the effect of contrasting colors. Even on the best bars, LED's only flash. Rotators actually move the beam of light, and do so continuously, giving the eye something to "track" which in turn keeps you "looking" and moving your eyes. A focused beam that "moves" you can almost always track to the source, but a "flashing" light is much harder to "locate" in less than clear weather. Police cruisers with rotators were struck by inattentive/impaired drivers much less when rotators were in use also.